Uruguay on a real high as it is prepares to legalise weed

The bill was approved through the country's lower senate last night and is on the verge of being passed as early as the end of this month.

If the bill is passed, Uruguayans will be allowed to grow marijuana in their own homes with limits on a maximum of six plants per house.

President José Mujica is leading the movement, arguing it will allow police to concentrate more on fighting street crime and other forms of drug smuggling.

The bill will now go to the Senate to become law, where officials have told President Mujica that they have a comfortable majority to approve it.

Shall we all get high? Uruguayan legislators vote on the bill.

He argues that the legalisation of the drug will help combat street crime and drug smugglers as well as help fight other forms of drugs trafficking.

The marijuana bill has been in talks for more than a year with the 78-year old former guerilla leader Mujica winning over a large proportion of the people.

Laura Blanco, president of Uruguay’s Cannabis Studies Association, said this sent an "encouraging" sign to other latin countries: "This is a very innovative bill, with the state deciding to regulate the entire chain of production, distribution and access to the substance.”

Throughout the past year, groups have successfully turned the heads of many opposition by explaining the effective medical and economic importance of the drug.

President Mujica is fully behind the new bill

“Uruguayans will be able to buy cannabis in pharmacies”

But many feel the legalisation of the drug may expose more people to the harmful effects of the substance in the future.

“This is an adventure which may end up endangering an entire generation,” warned Gerardo Amarilla, an opposition legislator with Uruguay’s National Party.

Under the bill, legal purchases of cannabis will be restricted to Uruguayan citizens to prevent foreign drug tourists from coming to Uruguay to smoke weed.

Uruguayans will be able to buy cannabis in pharmacies by entering their names into a confidential federal registry where they will be able to purchase 48 grams per month.

Members of the lower senate discuss matters about the bill

In December last year, Prime Minister David Cameron rejected the move to decriminalise drugs in the UK: "Drugs use is coming down, the emphasis on treatment is absolutely right, and we need to continue with that to make sure we can really make a difference.

"These are the government's priorities and I think we should continue with that rather than have some very, very long-term royal commission."

Official figures last year showed that drug use in England and Wales is at its lowest rate under current measurements since 1996.

Yet the growth of legal highs is the Government's main concern.

President Mujica, who has gained the nickname "the world's poorest president" for giving 90% of his wages to charity, has been nominated for the 2013 Nobel Peace Prize for his work on drug trafficking.

Uruguay, with a population of 3.3 million people, has been at the heart of Latin America's most ambitious political movements - passing of the abortion rights law, moving towards legalising same-sex marriage and fighting for renewable energy ideas.